You could smell this one from a mile away. Honestly this whole thing isn't because of Blackfish - it stems as far back as the AB/Inbev transition in 2008. Here's just a few of many glaring issues with this company:
1) Poor Employment Model - Puts new hire/ front line employees on a 9-month probationary period, creates high turnover rate. Nobody has ownership of their roles in the company. Healthcare mandate then forces SeaWorld to cut back employee hours in 2013 to a mere 28/hrs a week because the company simply couldn't afford the labor cost. This again created a tremor in the employment makeup which reflects poorly on in-park experiences.
2) Capital Investment Decisions (2010 - Present) - Although Manta opened in 2009, the attraction was developed by the AB team and had nothing to do with the current team. Every decision the park made after that was based on the concept that, since they're in family friendly Orlando, they needed more family friendly attractions. What followed from Brian Morrow and company was a complete and total waste of finances and time.
3) Aquatica - What could of been an opportunity to tie the parks together slipped through the cracks, SeaWorld instead opened up a typical water park with a few animal based thematic elements. The focus should of been on opening a Phase 1 with an emphasis on creating a connection between the dry park and the water park. Although geographically, they sit next to each other, in terms of the way the traffic is distributed they might as well be worlds away.
4) Marketing Approach - This somewhat has to do with the response to Blackfish, and the humanitarian/preachy marketing campaign SeaWorld wasted money on to save face of their brand. The other big disappointment comes from trying to compete with other Orlando theme parks by identifying themselves as a family theme park, rather than providing an alternative to an already saturated market. SeaWorld should of focused their efforts on bringing the thrills of wildlife with modern-day thrill rides, instead they tried to fit them selves into a mold they don't belong in.
I could go on for hours and hours, but lets not forget the past. This isn't necessarily because of Blackfish, I just think SeaWorld executives find convenience in it as a way to explain what simply are bad business decisions in an environment that could of made them a huge hit. I really hope that whoever decides to acquire the park understands the true culture of SeaWorld and doesn't veer down the same path of failure that Jim Atchison, Terry Prather, and Brian Morrow fell so accustomed to.